Fetal calf serum-induced blastogenic and cytotoxic responses of human lymphocytes.

Incubation of normal human peripheral blood lymphoid cells in fetal calf serum-supplemented media initiates blastogenic and nonspecific cytotoxic responses. A panel of lymphocytes from 13 normal donors exhibited increased [3H]thymidine incorporation from 2 to 40 times that of control lymphocytes incubated in pooled human AB-supplemented media. Fetal calf serum-sensitized human lymphoid cells were active in cytotoxicity assays against a wide variety of cultured human tumor and normal target cells. Cytotoxicity continued to increase from 3 to 9 days of incubation in fetal calf serum-supplemented media, while blastogenic response peaked at 6 days of incubation. Cytotoxic and blastogenic responses increased with higher concentrations of fetal calf serum. Once stimulated with fetal calf serum, the lymphocytes did not require the continued presence of fetal calf serum to mediate a cytotoxic reaction.

[Dysphagia management of acute and long-term critically ill intensive care patients]. / Dysphagie-Management im Akut- und Langzeitverlauf bei kritisch kranken intensivpflichtigen Patienten.

Dysphagia is a severe complication in critically ill patients and affects more than half the patients in an intensive care unit. Dysphagia also has a strong impact on morbidity and mortality. Risk factors for the development of dysphagia are neurological diseases, age >55-70 years, intubation >7 days and sepsis. With increasing numbers of long-term survivors chronic dysphagia is becoming an increasing problem. There is not much knowledge on the influence of specific diseases, including the direct impact of sepsis on the development of dysphagia. Fiberoptic evaluation of swallowing is a standardized tool for bedside evaluation, helping to plan swallowing training during the acute phase and to decrease the rate of chronic dysphagia. For evaluation of chronic dysphagia even more extensive diagnostic tools as well as several options of stepwise rehabilitation using restitution, compensation and adaption strategies for swallowing exist. Currently it seems that these options are not being sufficiently utilized. In general, there is a need for controlled clinical trials analyzing specific swallowing rehabilitation concepts for former critically ill patients and long-term survivors.

The participation of human peripheral blood lymphocytes with Fc receptors for IgG or IgM in the fetal bovine serum induction of amplifier cell activity.

The culture of human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) in fetal bovine serum (FBS) supplemented media results in the activation of an amplifier activity for mitogen or antigen induced proliferative responses. T cells are required for the generation of amplifier cells. In addition, this amplifier activity was shown to require a cell with Fc receptors for IgG but lacked Fc receptors for IgM. Therefore, it appears that the FBS induced amplifier cells have the same characteristics as the FBS culture induced NK-like cytotoxic and proliferating cells, i.e. these cells are of T cell origin, Fc gamma positive, and Fc mu negative. These FBS-cultured PBL may be a useful model for studying cell interactions and regulatory phenomena in human lymphoid cells.

"NK-like" cytotoxicity of human lymphocytes cultured in media containing fetal bovine serum.

Human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) were found to be highly cytotoxic to a human malignant melanoma target cell line after the PBL were cultured in medium supplemented with 20% fetal bovine serum (FBS). The effector cells had surface markers similar to those of non-cultured NK effectors against melanoma targets. Both NK (without culture) and the culture-induced cytotoxic effectors had Fc gamma receptors, lacked Fc mu receptors and were either heterogeneous for E receptors or had low-affinity E receptors. Cells required to generate the FBS response were sensitive to anti-T serum plus complement, passed through a nylon-fiber column, formed E rosettes, but lacked detectable receptors for the Fc portions of either IgG or IgM. These results suggest that events causing activation of T cells such as culture of PBL in FBS-containing medium, result in the augmentation of NK activity.